Polyrhythms presents Bigfuniowa at the Redstone Room -- July 18.
Sunday, July 18, 5 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Members of a six-piece jazz-fusion and soul band that plays an abundance of jazz from the late 1960s to the '70s, the Midwestern artists of Bigfuniowa serve as the latest musical guests in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Series, with the ensemble's repertoire in its July 18 concert boasting magnificent tunes by the likes of Herbie Hancock, the Jazz Crusaders, Jeff Coffin, Fred Wesley, Eddie Harris, Monk, and other genre masters.
The guitarist for Bigfuniowa, Steve Grismore – who has been playing guitar for over 50 years – has recorded three nationally distributed CDs for the Accurate label with the Gismore/Scea Group, eight albums with Iowa’s salsa band Orquesta Also Maiz, and three CDs with the Oddbar ensemble. Grismore also released the 2012 CD Besame Mucho with the Steve Grismore Trio, performs with such outfits as the Beaker Brothers and 3 Dawgs & a Bone, and has recorded and performed with jazz masters including David Sanborn, Charlie Haden, Matt Wilson, Tim Hagans, and Robin Eubanks. Bigfuniowa pianist Bob Washut has been a professor of jazz studies at the University of Northern Iowa since 1980, and has recorded 11 CDs (two of which earned five-star ratings from DownBeat magazine), toured Europe three times, and received three “Outstanding Performance” citations in DownBeat's annual Student Music Awards. He was inducted into the Des Moines Jazz Hall of Fame in 2013 and the Iowa Jazz Educators Hall of Fame in 2003.
Saxophone player Christopher Merz, who also headlines the jazz outfit Christopher's Very Happy Band, is a University of Northern Iowa Professor of Music who has served as director of jazz studies and the award-winning UNI Jazz Band One since 2002. Under his direction, the band has traveled to Thailand as well as the east coast of the United States, and Merz has recorded more than a dozen CDs featuring many original compositions and arrangements by student and faculty writers. Trombonist Mike Conrad is Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies & Music Education at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as a composer and improviser who has toured China, played at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy, and appeared at various jazz festivals and venues all over the United States. Among the ensembles Conrad has performed with are the Alexa Tarantino Quintet, Dave Chisholm’s Calligraphy, and Christopher’s Very Happy Band, and the musician has been recognized for his arranging and composing with four ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards and seven DownBeat Awards.
Danny Oline, bass player for Bigfuniowa, earned a degree in electronic media from the University of Northern Iowa, and regularly performs with the Steve Grismore Trio, Orquesta Alto Maiz, Jim Dreier's Ritmocano, and various other small groups in Eastern Iowa. And the band's drummer and Marion resident Tim Crumley has attended Allison-Bristow Community School, Iowa Lakes Community College, NIACC, University of Northern Iowa (Bachelor of Art, General Studies/Music), and University of Iowa (Music Therapy), with his many musical interests including jazz, funk, big-band, R&B, Afro-Cuban, Brazillian, classical, Dixieland, and pop.
Bigfuniowa plays the Redstone Room at 5 p.m. on July 18, admission to the concert is $15, and more information and reservations are available by contacting Polyrhythms at (309)373-0790 and Polyrhythms.org.
